1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to a network of computer systems and, more particularly, to reliable storage in the network and efficient access to the storage by client computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Frequently, computer systems are deployed in a networked environment. In the networked environment, one or more client computer systems running user applications may be connected to one or more file servers which provide networked access to files used by the applications. Such a networked environment is referred to as a distributed file system.
An important feature of distributed file systems is high reliability of the file system. More particularly, it is important that the file system be as immune as possible to any system failures (crashes, power failures, etc.). If a system failure occurs, a less reliable file system may experience file corruption (e.g. if the failure occurred while the file was in the process of being updated). Repairing file corruption may be a complex and time consuming process, and may result in the loss of data. The lost data may result in a subsequent loss of productivity for the user who updated the file, and may even result in permanent loss if the lost data cannot be easily recreated by the user.